


The Limitations of the Human Body

by k_aiii



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Boys In Love, Declarations Of Love, Desert Island Fic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst, Hurt Karl Jacobs, Hurt Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Internal Conflict, M/M, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:27:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29953395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/k_aiii/pseuds/k_aiii
Summary: It's been [REDACTED] days since the crash.Nobody's come for them.And Karl is dying.
Relationships: Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	The Limitations of the Human Body

**Author's Note:**

> took a break from writing music to your ears to do this cuz why not (unedited as hell, sorry bout that)

The accident replayed itself over and over. One moment they were complaining about having to go home from vacation. The next was spent trying to settle into uncomfortable airplane seats. And the one after that they were plummeting down from the sky with their screaming seatmates. He vividly remembered their cries and the whispers to their families they spoke, knowing no one could pass their message on.

It haunted him; the burning feeling of the impact and the worry that filled his chest. The faces of people he had never even met before stayed clear in his mind. He writhed around in his sleep, sweat dripping from his forehead. He remembered exchanging looks of panic with Sapnap when the plane started rapidly descending. His entire body began to shake and-

"Karl!" He heard someone shout. Karl's eyes shot open and he gasped.

"I-I'm up." He said with a scratchy voice. Sapnap closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. He sighed in relief.

"Thank god. Was it another nightmare?"

"Yeah. Nothing new, I guess." Karl tried to sit up from the pile of bound leaves he was laying on, but his body gave up on him before he could.

"Hey, hey, lay down. Do you need anything? Food? Water?" Sapnap brushed a few pieces of hair out of Karl's face. He sighed.

"No, I'm fine. As fine as I can get, that is." Karl took a deep breath in. "What were you doing before you came over here?"

Inside Karl's hut, made from fallen bits of the plane and stray tree bark, kept him cooler than he would be out in the sun, but not by very much. Karl laid stationary on his back as Sapnap continued to play with his hair with his rough calloused fingers. Sapnap sat by Karl's side with his back barely out of the hut, the sun beating down on it. 

"I just finished digging the last pit. But I still don't know if this is a good idea to bury everyone. What about when someone finds us? Won't their families want their bodies back?" Karl sighed.

"It's a good idea. Trust me." _Because no one is coming for us._

"Karl, you're burning up. Are you still not feeling well?" Karl closed his eyes and let out a sad laugh.

"Look at my leg, Sapnap. Do I look well to you?" Sapnap glanced down. Karl was wearing cargo shorts with the left pant leg rolled up. His leg was various ugly shades of red and purple. The skin looked as though it was beginning to rot from the inside out. It was also labeled with lines of sharpie and various dates to track the spreading, like a morbid childhood growth chart on a doorway. The color and uneven skin had nearly spread to Karl's upper thigh. Sapnap had to look away.

"Did you finish reading that book? Find anything useful in it?" Sapnap asked. Karl nodded and opened his eyes.

"A lot, actually. It's morbid good luck that the plane crashed with a med student in it."

"What did it say?"

"It said that I'm dying. But I guess we already knew that." Sapnap pulled his hand from Karl's forehead and frowned.

"Don't say that, we'll make it out, okay?"

"Sapnap, I need antibiotics. At this rate, I'll probably need a leg amputation. And by the looks of things, it won't happen." Sapnap swallowed.

"A-Anyways, are you hungry? I can make you some stew with the pork leftovers from yesterday."

Karl shook his head. "Save it for yourself, it'd just be a waste on me. You're doing a lot more than I am. God, maybe it was a sign that we were almost late for our flight."

"Karl, you're sick. You need to eat. I-"

"Sapnap. Stop." Even with his weak and frail voice, his serious tone sent a painful shiver down Sapnap's spine. "You need to face it. _We_ need to face it."

"Face what...?"

"Face the fact that no one is coming for us! And even if they do, it'll be after I'm dead and cold. I'll be lucky if I make it a few more days, let alone how long it'll probably take for someone to find us here." Sapnap was trying to hold his tears back.

"Someone will come for us! And you're not dying!"

"I am!" Karl shouted and immediately violently started to cough. Sapnap scrambled to unscrew the cap from a water bottle he had next to him. He laid a hand behind Karl's head to prop him up and slowly poured the water down his throat. He closed the bottle and sat it next to himself again.

"I am, Sapnap. I am dying." There was a moment of quietness as they stared into each other's eyes and their ears filled with the sound of whistling winds and crying cicadas. "And it's okay. It'll all be okay."

Sapnap stood up and brushed some dirt off of his pants. "It _will_ be okay. Because you're not dying. I'm going to make the stew. I'll be back soon."

Karl had another bout of coughs, but was too weak to reach for the water himself. He brought his forearm to cover his eyes and tried to clear his mind from every aching breath he took. His coughing and hacking ended with a few splashed of blood. But Sapnap didn't need to know that. Karl was running out of time.

And he was painfully aware of it.

After some time passed and the sun eased her rays, Karl could hear approaching footsteps in the sand. Sapnap bent down and opened the makeshift door to Karl's hut. He sat down with his legs tucked underneath him and gently tapped on Karl's shoulder with his empty hand.

"Karl? Food's done." Karl sniffled and removed his arm from over his eyes. He winced at the bright light and groaned.

"I said earlier that I'm not hungry."

"You said that I should eat, not that you weren't hungry. Are you fit enough to sit up?"

"Most definitely not. You're wasting precious food on a dead man, y'know."

"Karl..." His eyes glazed over. "Please? Please just eat. Even just a few spoonfuls..." Karl playfully scoffed.

"If it helps you sleep at night. You'll have to feed me again, I don't think I can hold the spoon, sorry."

Sapnap shook his head. "It's okay. I would've done it anyways."

It was quiet while he fed Karl. He stopped every so often to wipe his chin with a small cloth square. Sapnap had to avert his eyes every time Karl chewed a piece of the pork. The amount of time it took him to chew a piece of meat no larger than the size of a coin was yet another painstaking reminder that Karl was only growing weaker. There was only around half of the bowl left when Karl refused to put the spoon back in his mouth.

"I'll burst if I eat another bite."

"That's it? You're full already?" Karl weakly nodded; Sapnap's concern was only rising.

"Sapnap, I'm serious about what I said earlier."

Sapnap gulped. "What?"

"I will die before help gets here."

It finally broke Sapnap and stabbed him straight through the heart. He sat the bowl down next to him and covered his face with his hands. A flood of tears escaped his eyes as he tried to choke back his sobs.

"I'm s-sorry, Karl. I don't wa-wanna cry, I just..." Karl mustered enough strength to move his arm and place his hand on one of Sapnap's knees.

"It's okay..." He muttered. "Look at me. Hey, look at me, Sapnap." Sapnap wiped his tears with the backs of his hands and looked at Karl with puffy eyes.

"Y-Yeah?"

"I know that wasn't something you wanted to hear, I'm sorry. I wanna stay optimistic, and I am; about you getting out of here. But you needed to hear it. And I need something too, even though I can't have it."

"What?" Sapnap sniffled. "What do you need? I can go grab it. Food, water, blankets, something from the plane wreckage?"

"Well, it's more of a want. I just want one thing before the inevitable. Like a hospice wish."

"And that is...?" Karl looked up at Sapnap with the most genuine smile he had seen on him since the day of the crash.

"I just wanna kiss you. One last time." A single tear fell from Karl's eye.

"That's it? Karl, of course. You didn't need to make such a big deal out of it." Nick leaned over but Karl pulled the hand that laid on Sapnap's knee to push away on his chest.

"Sapnap, no. I'm sick as a dog. I know it's probably just from the bite, but I don't wanna risk it. Just because I'm dying doesn't mean that you have to too." Karl retracted his hand from Sapnap's chest.

"Move to the side, I wanna see the sunset." Sapnap did exactly that and turned to look at it as well. The bright yellow sun slowly descended as the skies above it melted into beautiful oranges and pinks. The wind was now still and the scent of salty water floated through the air. Karl smiled.

"Thank you. You've been taking really good care of me for I don't even know how long." Sapnap turned back to face him.

"What else would I do? Just leave you here?"

Karl chuckled. "Guess not." He closed his eyes again. Nick wiped the remnants of his tears away a final time.

"And do me a favor, Nick? Another one, I guess." Sapnap's heart raced when Karl used his real name. "Don't bury me in one of those crappy ditches. The plane is fine." Although Karl couldn't see, Sapnap nodded. 

It felt sadder to Nick than to Karl. He didn't want to believe this was happening, he just wanted it to all be a bad dream or the plot of a shitty cartoon. He truly believed that they would both make it out alive, even if that meant giving his all to Karl.

He leaned and hovered over Karl's face. More tears threatened to fall and it took all of his willpower to hold them back. He took in all of Karl's features, albeit dulled from what they were before. His eyes were much more sunken in and tired looking than before. His skin had become paler as well. His hair was also thinner and there were fewer and fewer of the hazel locks as more time passed.

"If you're gonna do it, just do it already." Karl whispered in his raspy voice. It was just barely hanging on by a thread. 

Sapnap leaned in even closer and pressed his lips against Karl's. They were dry and cracking and felt rough against his own, but that was the last thing on his mind. Karl's weak arms rested on Sapnap's shoulders. They continued to relish the intimate moment until Karl retracted his hands and returned them to his side. He peeled his tired eyes open.

"Thank you..." He smiled. "Get some sleep. I'm okay here."

"Are you sure?" Karl nodded. Sapnap placed a gentle kiss on Karl's forehead. "I love you. Goodnight."

Sapnap awoke the next morning to the blaring horn of a boat. He immediately shot up and scrambled to get to the shore. He frantically jumped and waved his arms around. At that moment, the feeling of immense excitement and hope overcame him. He darted back to Karl's tent and practically tore open the door.

Dozens of different scenarios paced through his head. He imagined people carry Karl to the boat and rushing to a hospital somewhere in a country they had never heard of. He thought of all the things that they could do once Karl was healed and back on his feet. He could live his dreams that he constructed with him; having huge dinners with both of their families, committing to each other for life, starting a family together. It was suddenly all in reach again. So close his fingertips were just gracing over it.

He could already see it. Karl's hair growing back fuller than ever. Maybe he'd even dye it that cotton candy pink again. The pigment coming back to his skin. Fat and muscle returning to his currently emaciated body.

"Karl! Karl! People are here! A boat is coming to shore!" He gently shook him by one of his shoulders. 

But his joyful feelings drained out of him and soaked into the pale sand. Dread instantly took its place. Karl's lips were as dry and chapped as the night prior, only now they had a light blue tint. His skin was cold and clammy. And when Sapnap laid his head against his chest, it was silent. The only warmth came from Sapnap's tears that flowed and soaked into Karl's shirt.

"I thought you would make it...I really did..."

**Author's Note:**

> p a i n


End file.
